Report -Tucker Fasteners, Birmingham - March 2014

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Visited with a non-member. Thanks to Speed for supplying the beta on this one.

In 1888 George Tucker, a Birmingham-based entrepreneur, founded a small business manufacturing eyelets which eventually morphed into the George Tucker Eyelet Co. Acquired by United Shoe Machinery in 1903, by 1914 Tucker's had become the UK's market leader in the metal eyelet and lace hook business. In 1934, an aircraft manufacturer approached Tucker's for assistance in the development of a new type of fixing; this new product would eventually become the POP rivet. Output reached 3 billion during the second world war, and Tucker's moved to a new factory in Perry Barr in order to keep up with demand.

After the war, new markets were found for POP rivets in applications as diverse as motor cars and domestic appliances and the company continued to expand, constructing two further factories at their Perry Barr site. In 1976 Tucker's was acquired by Stanley, followed by Black and Decker in 2010. However by 2012 competition from the far-east meant production had halved and the Birmingham factory was closed the following year with the loss of 220 jobs.

It's fair to say that this is a factory of the old school. Whilst virtually all of the machinery has been stripped out, I was amazed by how many original features remain. If you scratch the surface this is a highly rewarding explore and whilst it only closed last year, the workshops at the rear of the site have clearly been empty for decades which means there's plenty of peely paint for the flickr-brigade. This is my first report in about 3 years so please excuse the poor photography!

Metallurgy Labs (found a strobe light in here, plugged it into the mains on the off chance it was on and frankly got a bit of a shock!)

This was my favourite room on site. What initially appears to be a nondescript office turns out to be full of ephemera and other items which document the companies history, including portraits of the directors and various samples from over the years. Whilst I'm fully aware that I'm exceptionally uncool at heart, I much prefer this sort of thing to old hospitals or whatever!

The workshops at the rear of the site:

Couple more from the main factory floor:

Again, thanks to Speed for the intel. Exercise care when visiting, as Herr Security is never far away. Thanks for reading!​